Velvet Glove
by Marissael
Summary: A crossover featuring Paine from FFX2 and another FF character. Someone has a crush, but on whom? I wonder... Oneshot.


Hopefully this won't be too strange a combination, but I love odd couplings. This is a one-shot for now. Dunno if I've got it in me to write a full blown, however many long chapters long, story. Read and review, I'd really appreciate it.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Squaresoft, or Squenix as it would be, or any of the characters from any of the Final Fantasies. Maybe I'd like to work for them someday, but wouldn't you know it? I don't speak a lick of Japanese! P

Velvet Glove

She was all eyes and ears as she watched her 'target' and his companion. At her current vantage point, she couldn't make out what was being said, but they were speaking in rather hushed tones and she wondered why.

Watching him these past few months had its ups and downs, pros and cons. He was easy on the eyes to say the least and in that respect, she greatly enjoyed her task. On the downside, most times he was with someone and two of the numerous people she had seen him with grated on her very last nerve with their overly energetic mannerisms; hyperactivity and noise were not her forte.

Her 'target' glanced over in her direction, or so she thought. _'Probably looking at the girl either next to me or behind me'_, she thought agitatedly. If she hadn't learned anything from this little extracurricular activity, she knew him to be quite the skirt chaser, always on the look out for his next hook-up.

Had he been more astute to an entire scene than he was with just the ladies, she figured he would have taken notice of the fact that she was here every day, always showing up just shortly after him and only leaving after he'd made his own exit. But he wasn't. If you weren't female and reasonably attractive, you were outside of his grasp of reality. She squinted her eyes slightly at this train of thought. It's not as if she were completely unfortunate looking, so why hadn't he ever approached?

She pushed such self-destructive thoughts out of her head, never having been one to doubt herself in the same ways normal women do. Am I pretty enough? Does my ass look fat in these shorts? No, her thoughts were more along the lines of, 'Is my sword sharp enough to easily tear through a funguar before it poisons me?' and 'Why is Brother _still_ crying over being kicked in the stomach?'

Not to say this recent habit of stalking was a side of her she admitted was there, or that her friends knew about what she was up to during the time she spent away from them. She'd venture to say that the teasing she'd receive from this would never end, hence why her two nosy friends would never know of her activities from noon to one every day for the past two and a half months.

The sound of a loud yell echoing through the small outdoor patio of the café rang and she instantly knew who it had come from. Unfortunately, today, he was with one of the two previously mentioned vexing companions he normally was with.

His seemingly, young, blond male friend practically skipped away from the cashier woman, tray gripped rather tightly in his hands, as he made his way to a table near the sidewalk. She noted that rather than waiting for her target to get to the table, he began to stuff the first of his three plates of food in his mouth. Apparently, he had a hot dog fetish that, no matter the distraction, could not be quelled.

Crimson irises shifted back to the one she was there to spy upon, only to notice that he seemed to be walking in her direction. Ignoring the urge to look behind her to get a better look at the woman behind her, she dropped her eyelids a fraction as to make it seem that she wasn't watching him approach.

Not seconds later, the folds of his long coat flapped slightly in the breeze near her table where he'd stopped. She feigned that the barely noticeable _klak_ that his tray made on the table ripped her attention from a deep concentration that had her gaze focused on some spot down the street.

"May I join you?" he drawled in an accent she had become all too familiar with. Even as he asked, he was drawing the folds of his coat behind him and sat down in the chair across from her. She watched, as she always seemed to, as he pulled off his gloves and hat and placed them on the table next to her sword.

"There are tables around that are empty, you know," she stated flatly in the way that only she could. She was correct, too; two tables right near hers were empty and clean. He made no attempt to move and she sighed as she tried not to look at him.

She'd never seen him up close before and was irritated to find that he was even more attractive than he had been the first time she'd spotted him. Irritated because she would have like to rid herself of this feeling, this attraction, but she didn't foresee that happening anytime soon.

They sat in silence with each other for what seemed like an eternity of minutes, him with his long legs crossed in a gentlemanly manner and her idly running her gloved fingers over the shine of her blade. He decided to begin eating; his food was getting colder by the second.

Since he figured she was going to remain decidedly silent, he spoke after taking in a bite of food, being careful to not allow the contents of his mouth escape onto his clothing. "What's your name?" he asked, only the second question he asked her since gracing her presence.

"Paine," she replied quietly, no longer avoiding his eyes with her own. Crimson met arctic blue and she fought the shiver that climbed down her spine.

Bite, chew, chew, chew.

"I'm not one to be blunt, but nor am I prone to beating around the bush, so I'll get right to the point. Why have you been following me? More exactly, watching me, since I never see you anywhere but here?"

He was serious, the most she had seen this temperament in all the time she'd been coming to the small eatery. Even as she thought of an appropriate, though most likely made up, reason, he continued eating. She was shocked to find out that he knew that he was the reason she had been showing up these past months, but hid it well, keeping that cool façade that so commonly resided upon her face.

"How did you know?" She was truly curious, seeing as how all this time she'd thought his entire attention had been on either his comrades or the women she'd seen him ogling and flirting with.

Swallow.

He wiped the corner of his mouth, his fork left resting on his plate, which was still on the tray. His gaze was down, as though he were looking at said plate.

"A lot of people mistake me for the kind of guy who only has one line of thought at any given time. You seem to have made that same mistake. I am a SeeD, and have been trained appropriately to know when someone is spying on me."

She was aggravated at the situation, clearly evident in the way the pace of her breathing quickened momentarily, in the way her brow furrowed, the way she seemed to want nothing more than to get the hell out of there.

"Out with it," he nearly demanded when he received nothing but silence.

She sighed again, keeping her gaze leveled at him. _How the hell did I get myself into this situation?_ she wondered mildly before giving him the first of his answers.

"Even if I told you the truth, you may not believe me anyway, Mr. Highly-Trained-SeeD."

"How about giving me a try?" he suggested, mouth again filled with food.

Paine shifted, crossing her legs as he had done earlier, one high heeled boot brushing lightly against the single leg that supported the little table. She didn't want to come right out and tell him, but she may not have a choice. If she didn't, she was here of her own accord, alone, and she hadn't failed to notice the rifle safely secured inside his long coat.

"This is so embarrassing," she muttered under her breath. If he had heard, he made no inclination that he had. Sighing yet again, leaned forward and rested her gloved arms on the table.

"I assume that since you obviously know that I've been watching, that you know how long as well."

He nodded, looking up at her from the fork going into his mouth, letting her know that he was listening and answering her question all at once. She continued.

"It's been a few months now. The first time I saw you…." she hesitated and lightly laid her fingers across the blade of her sword, as though it gave her courage.

"The first time I saw you," she continued, "was three months ago. My friends and I were on a trip here and we stopped at this very café for dinner."

Her ever-calm eyes fixed on his. He had finished his lunch and was just sitting, still waiting for the rest of her explanation. She hoped to all that there was and ever may have been that he would be the only person she would _have_ to tell this to, otherwise she swore she would cut down anyone who ever made mention of it to her for the rest of her natural life.

"I'm on a mission," she pronounced, still unsure on how she should tell him the specifics.

"When I saw you, I thought you were…. attractive, and instead of sitting idly by, wondering what could have happened, I decided to watch you for a while until I was ready."

The normally smooth brow of his creased and furrowed slightly, apparently not catching onto what she was trying to avoid having to say.

"Ready for what? I don't think I really understand what you're saying," he stated. She swore that for a split second, the corner of his mouth twitched in humor, as though he knew what was going on and he was just toying with her. This spurred her on, not wanting to drag this out any longer than necessary.

"Look, I'm not your everyday woman. I don't do cutesy things and being coy is just something I don't really understand. It's not love…." she quietly affirmed, "but… I like you, I suppose. I've seen you with your friends. You don't seem uptight nor the type to ask a lot of questions, which I find refreshing from time to time given the company I keep."

"I'm not saying I expect anything from you either. I just thought that I'd put it out there, though I didn't think it would be so soon, and see what would happen."

Her words were harsh sounding, but honest, though he'd had a sneaking suspicion from the start. A smile graced his lips, his eyes becoming more friendly and welcoming and Paine's face remained as cool as always.

Pushing away from the table, he stood and merely gazed at her until she did the same. This time a full smile spread across his face, lighting up all of his features and he extended and hand out to her in greeting.

"I should introduce myself then. Name's Irvine Kinneas. I like your sword."

Paine glanced down at her sword, a small smile on her face as she looked back into his face. Lifting her hand to meet his, she reiterated her own name, "It's nice to finally meet you Irvine. I'm Paine and I like cowboys…."

Episode Complete!

Thanks for reading.


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